


In Memory

by PagetPaulson



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-19
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-06-09 11:49:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6904789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PagetPaulson/pseuds/PagetPaulson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I am not a murderer!"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Waking up, the brunette could feel her head aching. The light from the windows straight across from her bed caused her to squint. It was too early for them to be up. She turned over and sealed her eyes shut, begging herself to fall back to sleep.

Emily Prentiss and Jennifer Jareau's wild week away.

Although the lamest name they had come up with, that was what the two FBI agent had called their vacation get away. Saving up their days, the two friends had set up a week away in Italy.

Both had been kidnapped only a month ago - a regular consequence that everyone on their team could agree should be put into the job description - and instead of going straight back to work like they always had, they took off across the ocean to spend their time together.

It had been where Emily had faced her darkest fears, but JJ had never been. It was a perfect healing spot for them both.

Rolling onto her back, the dark haired woman finally let her eyes open. She sighed, watching as the lights flooding through the windows dancing on the ceiling she stared at. "Like a kaleidoscope," she mused quietly.

It was only their third day, and both women had agreed they wanted to sleep in as long as they could.

The moment they landed in Italy, they had gone walking around Rome. The ambassador's daughter took her friend to the Vatican, showed her the embassy she and her family had lived in for three years and took her to the bars she, Matthew and John had snuck into when they were fourteen.

Emily had even shown her where they buried the onesie she had gotten for her baby before she had it aborted.

The second day they had spent the entire day on a train riding to Venice, drinking wine and talking to Henry on the phone. After arriving in Venice they had taken a gondola ride to get to their hotel where they spent their night in the hotel drinking at the bar and eating as much food from their most expensive restaurant. It had been everything JJ had wanted.

Thankfully Emily knew her way around Italy, and she had been leading JJ all over the country to get her mind off of what had happened.

"Jay, you awake?" The brunette laughed as she snuggled deeper into her sheets, not hearing a peep from the other woman. "Didn't think so." She ran her fingers through her tousled hair as put her head back on her pillow. She wished she could sleep as long as her friend did.

Laughing into her pillow, Emily remembered the time she and JJ were on a case and the blond was so deep in sleep that the hurricane that had even broken their room's window couldn't wake her up.

Sitting up in bed, Emily sighed. She wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep no matter how hard she tried.

She looked over to the other bed in the corner of the hotel room, smiling when she saw her friend's blond hair sticking out from underneath the covers. Looking to the clock on her bedside table, Emily reached for it and turned off the alarm that was already programmed into it. "Breakfast?" It was already past ten.

With no answer from her friend, the FBI agent got herself up from her bed and dug through her suitcase for an outfit to match the sunny day she saw had already started outside. "I'll get it without you," she nodded to herself, locking the bathroom door behind her.

Looking into the mirror, the agent blushed at the hickeys she saw on her neck.

She and her friend had gotten a little too drunk the night before, meeting a couple of men in the bar.

JJ had only danced with one of them, his Italian accent too attractive to ignore. But Emily had let the taller of the two lead her up to his room on the second floor and hadn't left until two that morning. Stumbling back to her room, she had laughed with JJ about what had happened before finally falling into her own bed.

She ran a brush through her hair after slipping on her blouse and shorts she decided to wear. Quickly putting her wavy brown locks up into a ponytail, leaving her face makeup free for her venture out into the city for breakfast.

Emily checked over to see her friend still sleeping before she took her purse from her bedside table. "I'll see you later," she snorted, not even able to see her friend's head from underneath the covers. "I'll bring you back a cannoli."

Noticing the man she had spent the night with, Emily walked faster through the hotel's lobby, sending the front desk clerk a small wave before venturing out into the sun so her hookup couldn't see her.

"Signora!"

Emily smiled politely to flower salesman before continuing down the street. Hearing her phone right, the agent was quick to pull it out of her purse. "Pen," she beamed. "What are you doing?"

"Catching killers," the technical analyst frowned, "without you!"

"We'll be back in a few days." Emily walked into a café two blocks from her hotel and waited at the end of the line. "So what's going on with you and Kevin?" When she and JJ had left, their blond friend was having issues with her boyfriend.

Garcia pouted, typing quickly to find the shoes she had been looking for online. "He brought me food last night to apologize."

"I'm going to guess by your tone that it didn't work."

"He sent me into anaphylactic shock," she ground out. "He put peanuts in the chicken he made. What boyfriend of two years doesn't know what you're allergic to?"

Emily gave a sympathetic smile into her phone as she came to the front of the line. "Due uova e un caffè per favore."

"Is that beautiful Italian for me?"

The brunette laughed, moving over to the register to pay for her breakfast. "Only if you can fly the eggs I ordered all the way over here."

Garcia frowned at her screen. "Why you wouldn't think I'd be able to confuses me. Do you not know me?"

"Grazie," she smiled to the cashier. "Of course I do, Pen."

"Well what are you doing today?"

The ambassador's daughter walked through the crowd in the café and sat herself at a small table just outside its doors. "We're headed to Florence in a few hours and we're going to spend two days there. JJ's still asleep," she laughed, "so we may miss our train."

Garcia took a huge sip from her coffee. "So jealous," she sighed. "You two are jetsetting and I'm stuck in the office."

"Yeah. Maybe next time you get kidnapped."

The blonde's face fell. "Ok, I'm going now."

Emily could feel her chest rising as she laughed into the phone. "I'll call you tomorrow, ok? Bye Pen." She hung up and slipped her phone back into her purse, reaching to take the coffee she had ordered into her hand.

"Emily?"

She didn't even have to look up from her food to know that it was the man she had slept with the night before. "Corradeo," she smiled. "How are you?"

"Good," he grinned. He made his way up to her table and gestured to the seat across from her. "Posso io?"

"You may sit," Emily nodded.

Corradeo ran his fingers over the scruff on his chin as he smiled to the older woman. "You look beautiful." He could see her blushing even though he knew it was the last thing she wanted to do. "Are you here for another night? Eventuali piani?"

The brunette bit her lip, doing her best not to smile as she carried on a conversation with the Italian man.

Spending an hour with the man she'd spent her night in Venice with, Emily almost forgot about her friend still sleeping at their hotel. She let Corradeo set a hand to her back and lead her to their hotel before setting a kiss to her cheek and letting her wander back inside alone.

"Miss Prentiss!" the clerk at the front desk called to her. "Signora!"

The ambassador's daughter noticed she couldn't get past the first few steps into the lobby, police officers surrounding the elevators. "Cosa sta succedendo?" _What's happening?_ She walked over to the front desk and noticed the terrified look on the desk clerk's face. "Qualcuno fa male?" _Is someone hurt?_

The thick accented man gulped. "Tuo amico," he said regretfully. _Your friend._

Emily's eyes widened.

"Il tuo amico è morto."

The brunette couldn't get a breath in, looking over to the elevators as she felt her knees give out from under her.

_Your friend is dead._


	2. Chapter 2

Emily couldn't stop the shaking of her hands as the Italian officer set the cup of coffee down in front of her. Immediately after hearing the news she had called everyone back home to tell them what had happened, and quickly after the officers in the hotel wanted to take her to the nearest station for questioning.

"Signora," the smaller of the two said softly. "Are you alright?"

The brunette took a deep breath, her hands running down her face as she tried to stop herself from crying harder than she already was. "Per favore," she whispered, wiping away her tears. "Dammi un momento." _Give me a moment._

The two officers stood on the other side of the table, one of the hotel's restaurant's tables after the rest of the hotel's guests had been evacuated. They hadn't been able to get the ambassador's daughter out of the hotel through any of the entrances because of the swarms of reporters. While the others from the hotel were being questioned outside in the blazing sun, Emily was forced to stay in the hotel so they could talk to her privately.

"Do you have any clues?" she asked, looking up to the officers with two red eyes. "Avete qualche indizio?"

"Signora, your friend has been dead for several hours." The thick accent of the Italian man made it difficult for her to understand his English, but she slid to the end of her chair to be closer to the two officers. "About four in the morning."

Emily blew out a breath, her head shaking. She had been in the room at that time just as JJ had been. "I was there," she said strongly. "She couldn't have been killed when I was there. Avrei sentito!" _I would have heard it!_

Sitting down across from the American woman, the taller of the two men tried to calm her down. "Signora Prentiss, we are trying," he nodded. "The body is being examined."

Emily's eyes immediately filled with tears at the sentence.

"Ci può dire di ieri sera?" _Can you tell us about last night?_

Taking in a deep breath, the ambassador's daughter ran her fingers over the glossy wood of the table they sat at. "We got here yesterday around dinner time," she started in a whisper, trying her best to focus on the events of the previous day. "We went to dinner down the street." Gesturing out to the lobby of the hotel they were in, Emily frowned. "Il Star Light." _The Starlight._

Emily took the coffee cup in her hand as she continued. "Siamo venuti in albergo dopo otto." _We came back to the hotel after eight._ "We went to the bar in the hotel, abbiamo avuto un paio di drink," _we had a couple of drinks,_ "abbiamo incontrato due uomini." _We met two men._

The officer sitting across from her frowned. "Two men? Chi erano questi uomini?" _Who were these men?_

Guiltily shrugging her shoulders, the FBI agent stared down into the dark cup of coffee she held. An Italian roast was always better than American. "Noi non li conosceva." _We didn't know them._ "Noi li abbiamo incontrati nel bar." _We met them in the bar._

"Il bar dell'hotel?" In the hotel bar? the officer still standing asked.

Emily gave a firm nod of the head. "Abbiamo ballato e ho lasciato JJ nel bar con l'uomo che ha incontrato." _We danced and then I left JJ in the bar with the man she met._

Writing everything down on the notepad they had, the taller of the two officers nodded for the brunette across from him to continue her story.

"Sono tornato alla camera intorno alle due del mattino." _I got back to the room about two in the morning._ Gulping, the FBI agent shook her head. "Ero ancora ubriaco," she admitted. _I was still drunk._

"Lei era sveglio?" asked the officer. _She was awake?_ "When you came back?"

She hated that she hesitated but everything she was trying to remember was a big ball of fuzz in her head. "Si. Si, lei lo era." _Yes. Yes she was._ "Abbiamo parlato per un po 'prima di andare a letto." _We talked for a little while before going to bed._

"Che cosa avete parlato?" _What did you talk about?_

Emily looked to the officer with clear eyes, hands tightening around the coffee cup. "Gli uomini che abbiamo incontrato." _The men we met._

Before the officers could continue their questioning, the clerk from the hotel's front desk came running in. "Signora!" he said, his heart still aching for the woman. "A phone call for you."

"Posso io?" she asked the officers before following the clerk back out into the lobby. Wiping her eyes once more, the brunette picked up the phone. "Agent Prentiss."

"Emily what's going on?"

The FBI agent's eyes watered at the voice that came over the telephone wire. "Dave, she's dead," she whispered tearfully. "They said she's been dead since four in the morning but I was in the room and I would have heard it. How could I not have heard that?"

"Cara, take a breath." The tired man ran a hand down his face, hearing the rest of the team outside his office trying to be calmed down by their Unit Chief. "Aaron is trying to calm everybody down. Do you know what happened?"

She was so mad at herself for not being coherent the night before she couldn't be sure of anything at the moment. "No one was in our room," the agent said, her voice wobbling. "I remember getting back around two in the morning and she was still alive." Emily immediately brought her hand up to wipe the tears that continued running down her face. "She was alive, Dave. And they're saying she was killed around four, but I would have heard someone come in right? I would have heard someone come in and murder my friend," she cried.

Rossi wiped his own tears as he listened to his friend crying in his ear. "I don't know, Emily. Aaron and I will be there shortly, alright? Your lawyer is on his way and we'll be there in a few hours."

"I can't do this," she whispered harshly into the phone. "I can't answer questions about my dead friend." How was she supposed to think of her as dead? How could she no longer be here?

"Bella," Rossi said sadly, nodding to his friend who came into the doorway of his office, "don't answer any more questions until your lawyer gets there."

Emily frowned at the advice before the line went dead.

"Signora?"

Doing her best to stop her tears before turning back to face the officers now with her in the lobby, the FBI agent nodded to the two men. "Più domande?" _More questions?_

The taller of the two officers gestured out the doors. "The station, signora. Abbiamo bisogno di prendere alla stazione di polizia." _We need to take you to the police station._


	3. Chapter 3

"Dobbiamo capire," the officer said strongly, looking across the table to the American woman in the interrogation room. _We have to understand_. "Ciò che è accaduto nella camera d'albergo?" _What happened in the hotel room?_

Emily's eyes, sore from all her crying, glared at the younger man. "I don't know! Non lo so! Quante volte devo dire che non so prima di smettere di interrogarmi?" _How many times do I have to say I don't know before you stop questioning me?_

"Abbiamo bisogno di una risposta." _We need an answer._

Raking her fingers roughly through her hair, the distraught woman shook her head. "Non posso dire che cosa non lo so!" _I can't tell you what I don't know!_ "I need to wait for my lawyer." Looking up at the officer, the FBI agent did her best to control her breathing. "Devo parlare con il mio avvocato." _I have to talk to my lawyer._

The officer behind the older man who had done his best to stay silent stepped forward. "Miss Prentiss," he said, his accent strong, "why must you speak with your lawyer?"

"I was told I shouldn't answer any more questions."

"Is there a reason for that?"

Emily's eyes immediately darkened on the two officers who were across from her. "Don't you dare accuse me," her deep voice growled.

A knock at the door had both officers up and leaving the room, keeping Emily by herself as they spoke with the investigator.

The brunette saw herself in the mirror across the room and immediately broke down. Her hair was a mess, her eyes red and swollen and blotches all over her ivory skin.

Her friend was dead.

Emily's hands covered her mouth as her head bent, she tried to cover up the sobs that finally made it out of her body. They echoed around the room, the ambassador's daughter forgetting about the mirror across from her and the officers that could very well be watching her as she cried, mourning the loss of her friend.

She just didn't understand. How could someone get a key to their room and come in during the night and kill the beautiful blond woman without waking her up?

Wiping her eyes, the shaking woman's head lifted. How was she even killed? They hadn't told her that much yet.

It made Emily's stomach summersault at the thought of her friend's butchered body. Was she stabbed? Surely Emily would have heard her friend's screams if it was that brutal. Maybe she was shot, the gun having a silencer.

Eyes widening, the FBI agent gulped. What if she was drugged?

She and JJ had gone to the bar in the hotel and met those men. What if the man she had left her friend with had drugged her drink and it didn't hit her until she was back in the room later that night?

Standing from her seat in the interrogation room, the brunette woman slammed her hand down on the door to try and get the officers' attention. "Ufficiale!" _Officer!_ Her knocking went on for over a minute before the door swung open, the agent stumbling back into her seat at the table.

"Avete bisogno di usare il bagno?" _Do you need to use the bathroom?_

Emily's head shook. "Stava drogata?" she asked, looking deep into the older man's eyes. _Was she drugged?_ Seeing the English speaking officer walk up behind the other, the agent sighed in relief. "Era così che è stata uccisa?" _Is that how she was killed?_

When the men didn't answer her, she grew angry. "Is it?"

"Why do you think she was drugged?"

She knew that trick: answering a question with a question. She did that all the time when a suspect set themselves into a trap. "What do you mean 'why'?" They had been questioning for hours, and she wasn't allowed to ask a question of her own? "My friend was murdered," she hissed. "I want to know how it happened. Was she drugged?"

Her lawyer made her way through the two men guarding the doorway, his briefcase dropping down to the foot of the chair Emily sat in. "Are you alright?"

The agent immediately brought the older man into a hug. Her best friend from growing up and now her lawyer, Elliot Rollins was the best she knew. "Thank you for coming," she whispered, her eyes watering.

Elliot sat his friend back down at the table, asking the officers to give him a moment with his client.

"Did they tell you what happened?" the brunette asked, her voice husky. He had met JJ once before when Emily invited him and his wife to a team BBQ, and they had immediately hit it off. "Do you know about JJ?"

The lawyer sadly nodded his head. "I did. I'm so sorry, Emily."

Emily's head shook, her hands coming up to wipe her cheeks. "They say it happened around four am, but I didn't hear anything. I don't know what happened," she cried. "I know I would have heard my friend dying, I know I would have. And they won't tell me how it happened," she whispered. "Do they not know?"

Elliot gave his friend a moment to try and get her breathing back under control before his head shook. "They know."

"Then why won't they tell me? Do they think I did it?" Her mind raced, thinking of all the possibilities the officers could be doing with her friend's case. "They don't think that I did it, do they? I could never do that to JJ."

"Emily, I need you to calm down."

Emily shook her head, her hands flat on the metal table. "What happened?" Seeing that familiar look in her friend's eyes, Emily was quick to move forward in her seat. Elliot gave her that look when he was trying to protect her from something. "Elliot please, I need to know."

"Emily," her friend said calmly, "I don't want to upset you."

"I'm already upset." Staring into those blue eyes, the FBI agent almost begged. "I need to know."

Seeing the tears freefalling down those ivory skinned cheeks, Elliot hesitated before nodding his head. "Jennifer Jareau, thirty-six year of age. Cause of death: beheading."


	4. Chapter 4

Pushing past her lawyer, the brunette who had been stuck in the Italian interrogation room for over four hours tried to jostle the doorknob that locked her in. "Let me out," she begged her friend, hearing him try and calm her down. "Elliot, let me out."

"Emily, you have to sit down."

The ambassador's daughter pushed her friend's hand from her shoulder. "Get off!" she cried, turning bck to the door and slamming her hand against it. "Non puoi tenermi qui!" _You cannot keep me here!_

The brunette's attorney took a small step back from his life long friend, watching her body shake as she continued to pound on the door.

"Ho bisogno di andare a casa," Emily sobbed, more to herself than to the officers outside or to her friend who stood patiently behind her. "I need to go home." Turning back to her lawyer, she felt her stomach turn at the look on his face.

"I need you to sit down," her lawyer said softly, "just for a minute."

She fell back against the door, fighting his hands as her eyes fell shut.

Her best friend was dead.

After Elliot had broken the news to her about how JJ had died, Emily fell to her knees and wretched into the trashcan that had been set in the corner of the interrogation room. She was sick, and then she had begun to sob so hard she made herself sick once more.

"Emily, sit down. I have to make sure you have your alibi."

Through her bloodshot eyes she glared at the younger man. "The fact that you think I even need to go over my alibi is hurtful," she said shortly, sitting herself back down. "I have no one to prove that I went back to my room at two other than the man I was with, and JJ."

Elliot was quick to open his notes. "What was the man's name?"

"Corradeo," she sniffled, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know his last name. He was staying in the same hotel."

"Em, I need you to tell me exactly what happened last night." He watched her try to catch her breath so she could explain. "From beginning to end, ok?"

Wiping her fingers underneath her eyes, Emily cast her eyes down to the cold metal table. "We had dinner out in Venice, and we came back to the hotel around eleven."

"Around?"

Emily's eyes hardened on the younger man. "We were having a good night, and I had had something to drink. I didn't really think I would have to be looking at my watch and cataloging every activity of the night, so yes I think it was around eleven."

Elliot slowly nodded his head. "Ok. Continue."

"There's a bar in the hotel we were staying at, so we sat down to have a few drinks." Gently staring down to the silver table, she traced her friend's initials with her finger. "We weren't planning on drinking much because we were supposed to take a train out of town today, so we were just really sitting there and talking when these two younger guys came in."

"Had you seen them before?"

Emily quickly shook her head no.

"And do you remember their names?"

"One was Corradeo," she said again, "and the other was blond, a little taller than I am and went straight to JJ. I think his name was Francesco."

Elliot frowned smally at his friend. "You think?"

Embarrassed, the brown eyed woman kept her eyes on her hands. "This trip was supposed to be about enjoying ourselves," the agent almost whispered, "JJ told me to take a chance and have fun for a night. I didn't really pay attention to her and the other guy."

"So tell me exactly what you remember," he prompted again.

Closing her eyes, Emily did her best to set aside the pain aching in her chest so she could try and remember the night before. "They walked up to me and JJ sitting at the bar and Corradeo asked me to dance. I told him no because I wanted to spend time with JJ, but she encouraged me to go and have a good time with him." She could leave out the part where she was trying to get over her ex-boyfriend and their recent kidnapping. "So I accepted his request for a dance and left JJ at the bar with the other man."

Elliot made sure to keep his eyes on his friend's features, noticing her brow pinch and her head shake as she tried to remember. "What happened next?"

"We danced for three songs," she recollected, "and then I told him to give me a moment so I could go and get another drink. I went to the bar, and JJ was talking to the other guy. We both took a shot, and then Corradeo asked me to his room."

"Did you go?"

Emily slowly nodded her head. "JJ said she would stay and talk to Francesco for a little bit while I went with Corradeo. I saw her three hours later back in our room."

"And she was live?"

"I'm sure of it," she was quick to answer. "I got back and JJ was fighting to stay awake. She was already under the covers and we started talking about the men we met, and how she wasn't exactly interested in Francesco, she has a boyfriend back home she's been on and off with, so after another drink she left him to go back to the room by herself."

Her lawyer quickly scribbled down the descriptions of the previous night's events. "The coroner believes that JJ passed away at around four in the morning. What time was it when you got back to the room when you claim she was still awake?"

Emily's brown eyes shot open, staring straight into Elliot's. "It's not a claim; she was awake when I got back."

"I believe you." He didn't want her to grow upset, but these questions needed to be asked before Emily's grief got the best of her. "I need to know what time you believe you got home."

She gave herself a moment, sitting straighter in her chair. "Around two in the morning."

Elliot nodded to himself. "Two hours before the murder."

Emily's lips rolled at the word, and she shortly shook her head. She still couldn't believe that her best friend of six years was gone, the crime committed with her in the same exact room and somehow she didn't hear a single thing.

"How did you feel when you got back to the room?"

Blinking, she looked back up to her friend. "What?"

"After drinking and being with Corradeo, when you got back to your room how did you feel?"

To be questioned by her friend was strange enough, but now she was growing confused. "Tired?" she tried. "I'm not sure what you're asking."

Elliot sighed quietly, setting his pen down. "Did you feel lethargic? Dizzy at any point during the night?"

"Do you think I got drugged?" she asked him quickly, her eyes wide. "That's what I asked the officers when I first got here but they refused to answer me. Do you think that's why I couldn't hear JJ?"

"Emily." The younger man's eyes hardened on his friend. "I need you to focus," he insisted. "Did you leave your drinks at any point in the night?"

Emily's eyes stung, running her hands through her hair. "At a couple of points, yeah."

"And so did JJ?"

"She did," she confirmed. Licking her lips, the teary eyed woman sat forward in her seat. "Elliot, I have to ask you something." Waiting until he looked back into her eyes, the brunette with her stomach still turning felt her face fall. "Was it slow?"

Emily could hear the squeak in her voice as she asked the question, a lump forming in her throat. "She didn't suffer, did she?"

Hearing the doorknob turn, the attorney wasn't able to answer his friend's question before the door opened and the two officers who had been questioning Emily walked in.

"Signora dobbiamo prendere ora." _Ma'am we have to take you now._

Emily frowned, her jaw dropping as she was yanked out of her seat and her hands cuffed behind her back. "Elliot!" She tried to turn her head, pulling herself away from the officers escorting her out of the interrogation room. "Cosa sta succedendo?" _What's happening?_

"You are charged with the murder of Jennifer Jareau." _You are charged with the murder of Jennifer Jareau._


End file.
